On March 14, 2016 Representatives Sessions, Stivers, Meehan, Donovan, Dent, Simpson, and Buck presented House Resolution 642 that recognizes magic as a rare and valuable art form and a national treasure.

Yes, folks, these men believe in magic, and want to officially recognize such.

While dreams of wands and lightning bolts danced in my head, I looked up this particular resolution, and I have to admit I wholeheartedly support magic as an art form and national treasure.

You can read the entirety of the resolution here, but I am quoting the end of it here:Whereas magic is timeless in appeal and requires only the capacity to dream;Whereas magic transcends any barrier of race, religion, language, or culture;Whereas magic has not been properly recognized as a great American art form, nor has it been accorded the institutional status on a national level commensurate with its value and importance;Whereas there is not an effective national effort to support and preserve magic;Whereas documen…

This story actually begins last December. On the fourteenth, a resource officer (i.e. a police officer) for Sidney Lanier Middle School in Fairfax, Virginia heard about "threatening Instagram posts" and decided to investigate. Okay, I agree that it's his job to investigate threats. He goes on the website and finds this:
Killing 🔫

“meet me in the library Tuesday”

🔫 🔪 💣
The officer interviews students; he then decides to do an emergency request to get the IP address of the Instagram account. And this is where I think our system breaks down.

That message is not a credible threat; the Fairfax School System spokesman actually said that they didn't find the message a credible threat. Now I agree that this is not a happy message. But I could easily argue it's neutral in terms of emotional content instead of negative. I could also easily argue that the emojis represent anger or indignation, not a threat but a statement of feeling.